George Jones Refuses Low Bids in Sale of His Home

How much would you pay to live on George Jones‘ 78-acre property? Would it be enough to sink the deal? Jones and his wife Nancy have been through the ringer trying to sell their estate in Franklin, Tenn. After lowering the price of the estate once, the Joneses turned to the auction block, attempting to sell off their home and its surrounding acreage on Saturday (July 7). The property was divided into five parcels, but unfortunately the iconic singer and his wife weren’t pleased with total selling price — so they just refused the sale.

The home, which is located just south of Music City, boasts a beautiful front porch with gigantic white pillars. The couple first put their property on the market in 2011 with a price tag of $15 million. When it didn’t sell, they lowered the price to $10 million — but even with a $5 million drop, nobody was biting. Desperate to unload their property, the Joneses turned to auctioneers JP King Auctions.

As Jones is quickly learning, selling an estate isn’t as easy as writing a No. 1 song. Even with a famous name attached to the real estate, the total bidding for the property was less than $2.5 million at the recent auction. In fact, most of the auction attendees at the event were George Jones fans, neighbors or simply people who were interested in seeing a celebrity’s home — none of whom had enough money in their bank account to offer up a serious bid.

“Being a special property for a famous person, that’s neat, but at the end of the day this has to be a property that someone wants to live and enjoy,” JP King Auctions’ Craig King told Nashville’s News Channel 5.

And the 80-year-old country star simply wasn’t prepared to sell his property for less than it’s worth — or, at least, less than he thinks it’s worth. Jones turned down all five bids and told the local news station that he has interested buyers in several other states.

Above all else, it’s refreshing to see that the ‘He Stopped Loving Her Today’ hitmaker has enough energy to worry about auctioning his sprawling landmass. Jones has spent the past several months fighting off a pesky upper respiratory infection, with stints in and out of the hospital, which worried his fans. Now that he’s finally beat it, he’s about to go back on tour.

According to Jones’ website, his next performance is on July 19 in Trumansburg, N.Y. The veteran touring superstar has dates scheduled through the end of the year.